


Between Us

by MelyndaR



Series: Common Ground series [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-06
Updated: 2015-02-06
Packaged: 2018-03-10 20:12:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 22,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3302000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry and Grace's relationship throughout the series and their relationships with some of the other characters. *Story's better than summary!*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go: the first chapter of Between Us. This is going to go through (more or less) the entire first three seasons, and then on past "Common Ground," tracking the relationship between Grace and Henry, along with their relationships with some of the other characters with a fair sprinkling of Red Cricket and Rumbelle mentioned throughout. Enjoy! It would make my day to get comments! Thanks!

"Courage and grace is a formidable mixture." - Marlene Dietrich

* * *

"Whatchya got, Henry?" Paige asked curiously, dropping down onto the park bench beside her classmate and peering over his shoulder at the book in his lap.

"Just a book that Miss Blanchard gave me last week," Henry said, glancing distractedly at her before returning his gaze to the pages of the open book.

"You're looking at it awfully hard for it to be 'just a book'," Paige pointed out. "How come?"

Henry looked at her out of the corner of his eye, sighing a little as he sized her up, apparently coming to the decision that she was… something – worthy of being trusted with his secret, maybe? – before he asked, "Promise you won't think I'm crazy? 'Cause I mean, I don't usually talk to people about this – I haven't ever talked to anybody about it actually-"

"But that doesn't mean that I'll think you're  _crazy_ ," Paige pointed out. "Come on, Henry, we're friends, aren't we?"

"A-are we?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I think so. But you don't have to talk to me about it if you don't want to, you know."

At that, Henry turned fully towards her on the bench and looked at her again, just… stared for a second. He wasn't sure  _why_ exactly he was willing to tell Paige about his theory, but he was… and when he really thought about it, she was right. If there was anyone in this town that he could actually consider a friend, then Paige  _was_ it.

Funny the things you could miss when your concentration was elsewhere… and what you could realize was the truth when somebody pointed it out to you.

"That's alright," Henry stammered. "I, uh, I wanna tell you about it. See," he scooted closer to her and tilted the book towards her so she could get a better view as he explained, "It's, uh, book of… fairytales – but not the way they're normally told – and the thing is…" He looked at her again, a little fear in his eyes as he second-guessed himself. Having just realized that he  _had_ an actual friend, he didn't want to turn around and loose her in the same minute.. But she had asked him, and he genuinely wanted to tell her – so, still watching her closely, he did exactly that. "They're a lot like the people in this town."

Even watching her as closely as he was, all he saw in her eyes, in her expression, was a heightened curiosity. She tilted her head to the side, wordlessly asking for more information, and he realized with a rush of relief that she wasn't judging him. She was giving him a chance to share his ideas; she was being a friend to him.

And in that moment, going over his life here, he genuinely wanted to know how he had skipped over her presence in his life. Well, no more, he decided. Now that he realized that he had a friend, he was going to  _be_ one too.

* * *

Henry wasn't really sure why Paige was the only one in Storybrooke who listened to him, but she was, and the further down this road he went – the more convinced he was of his theory – the more grateful for her he became. She actually  _believed_ him, she actually believed  _in_ him, and he needed that like nothing else right now. He needed… her to be what she was – what she had become – to him. She was a friend, and he needed that piece of normalcy in his life when he could feel that he was on the edge of something spectacular and terrifying. He needed someone to walk to classes with, to study with, and play at the park with, like any other normal ten-year-old on the planet.

In the months that had passed since he'd told her his theory about his book, they had gotten closer and she had become the nicest constant in his life.

So he took a risk that he was beginning to think wasn't even a risk at all and entrusted her with another secret – another layer to his plans – this one bigger than ever before.

"Henry," she hissed, eyes wide, voice frantic with worry and quiet even though the two of them were alone at his castle. "You can't just…  _go to Boston by yourself!_ That's crazy; you'll get hurt!"

"No, I won't," Henry insisted, even more stubborn then she was – and by now she knew it as well as he did. "I'll be fine, I promise. If I can just get Emma to come back with me – to come here and believe in magic – then we can break the curse. Don't you believe me? Isn't that what's most important?"

"Yes, Henry, I do believe you, but  _no,_ that isn't what's most important! You staying safe is."

"I live with the Evil Queen," Henry pointed out dryly. "It can't get much worse than that."

She sighed then, still looking at him, worry flooding her face more than ever as she realized that she wasn't going to be able to talk him out of it, and demanded, "Just promise me that you'll be super safe and careful, okay?"

"Okay."

"No, you have to promise."

Henry smiled at her, his one friend, who sometimes became so easily concerned at the slightest things. "Okay," he repeated. " _I promise_  that I'll 'be safe and super careful' – and that I'll come back with the Savior."

Her shoulders fell a little bit, and he realized that he'd just said the wrong thing somehow. But how?! He'd done what she'd asked him to and even used her words exactly!

Confused, he asked a little nervously – because she looked ready to cry, but still, a friend would ask, right? "What?"

"Henry," she said carefully, slowly, like she was trying to get him to understand something important. "Getting the Savior and breaking the curse would be nice, but this life isn't that bad either, is it?"

"Don't you want to see the curse break though?" he asked guardedly, too used to being told that he was just "overly-imaginative" not to get a little on edge at what she was saying.

"Yes, of course! But… the Savior isn't my friend; you are. So… if you have to go, just be careful and come back soon."

Henry smiled in a way that he hoped was comforting as he said, "I will."


	2. Chapter 2

Henry had thought long and hard about letting Archie know that he was going to skip town, but he decided that wasn't a good idea. No matter how much he liked and trusted Archie, the man was still an adult, and as a whole, the adults in his life didn't believe him when it came to the book. So that meant that if he told Archie, Archie would take the necessary precautions to make sure Henry didn't leave, and that just couldn't happen.

Running into Archie the moment he got back into Storybrooke –  _with Emma Swan!_ – didn't do him any favors either, but it was nice to see his friend's calm concern… before facing down the Evil Queen. Then she'd gone and acted all concerned right after he'd explained to Emma how she only pretended to love him, further discrediting his story when he was trying the best he knew how to get the Savior to  _believe._

Frustrated with how being in Storybrooke was going so far, Henry snapped at her and ran inside, wishing he'd thought to lock the door when Sheriff Graham waltzed in and "checked in on him." The man didn't have children of his own, though, and giving him a hateful glare – once pretending to be asleep didn't work – was enough to send him running to report to the Evil Queen that he was "fine." When the sheriff disappeared, Henry  _did_  lock the door behind him, and after Sheriff Graham and Emma left, he ignored his mother's attempts to talk to him from the other side of the door until she gave up. Still steaming, he changed into pajamas and then  _actually_ went to bed, getting a few hours of light sleep before he woke up.

After getting ready for the day, Henry flopped down at his computer and sent a quickemail to Paige.

_I'm back in town. I found the savior, and I'm safe, but the Evil Queen's being stupid. And Emma doesn't believe me. I'm not going to school today. Meet me at my castle after school? Please? We've got to figure something out._

Yet the adults in his life – Emma, this time! – messed even that plan up. She found him at the castle and dragged him back to the Evil Queen – after she drove him to tears that he didn't want to cry, and proverbially tore his heart out of his chest. Once he was back at his house, he darted past the Evil Queen and up to his room, flopping down on his bed and ignoring the way she came in to glare at him angrily.

Once he was sure that she was gone, he shuffled over to his computer and sat down, typing up another email for Paige.

_Emma found me and brought me back to the Evil Queen. We won't be able to meet today. If I'm right about the curse, though, we'll be able to tell tonight. Time should start going again so the time will change at 8:16. I guess that's the only way we'll be able to tell for now until something bigger happens._

A few minutes after school had let out, he received a reply:  _I'm sorry. It'll be okay. Will I see you at school tomorrow?_

Sighing, Henry answered only:  _Thanks. Yeah._  Not like he had much of a choice in the matter.

And with that he stayed up in his room, sulking until 8:15. Staring intently at the clock tower, his mood did a happy one-eighty with the simple jolt of the minute hand. It was working!

Then the Evil Queen had to come along and ruin his happy attitude before he left for school, quizzing him about the book. At least he had plans to find a way to talk to Emma before school. After all, what responsible adult would let a ten-year-old boy walk to the bus alone?

Yet, for all of his trying, she wasn't as quick to believe as he would've liked her to be – at least not consciously – but when he shared these concerns with Paige during lunchtime, she was quick to remind him that sometimes it took grownups awhile to buy into things, especially things like this. So Henry tried his ten-year-old best to be patient with her as he waited for something to click.

But at this point, patience wasn't something that he was entirely well-known for – a fact that was exemplified when he got himself trapped in the mines with Archie – and he'd only been trying to find proof! That had backfired royally, though it had resulted in some meaningful conversation with Archie, the one grownup that he'd trusted in Storybrooke even before Emma came along.

That was the day that he realized – just like the lightning bolt of recognition where Paige was concerned – that not only did he trust Archie, but he had a friend in him – and it had  _only_  taken Archie nearly plummeting to his death down that elevator shaft for him to come to that realization. But once again, that realization meant the world to him.

And his spirits were only lifted further when he returned to school the next morning. When he came in, Paige was standing with a group of her friends inside their classroom, but when she spotted him, she darted over and gave him a tight hug.

"I heard about what happened in the mine; I was so worried I almost went to your house to check on you!" In other words, she'd almost broken one of their unspoken rules: Henry could come over to her house, but neither one of them wanted Paige in the presence of the Evil Queen. "Are you okay?"

He nodded quickly, reassuring her with a simple, "Yeah."

And for a few days, he actually was okay… and then things started looking like they were going to get even better. The Savior didn't believe, no, but someone was finally starting to – Sheriff Graham. He just never expected the man to die because of it…


	3. Chapter 3

There were a lot of things since bringing Emma to Storybrooke that Henry had learned to let role off his back. Sidney's article about Emma, the resulting prejudices in town against her, and the all-out war going on between his moms were all perfect examples – but Graham's death and the fact that he  _knew_ the Evil Queen had done it rattled him to the core.

He just couldn't shake it, and with something this horrific, he wasn't sure he even wanted to. He called off Operation Cobra because of it… and then Emma allied herself with Mr. Gold of all people! And that was before someone set fire to his home, just for the election's sake! Regardless of the fact that Emma had been the one to save his mom and had won the election, his world was starting to fall apart, and in the middle of it all, he went to the one place he felt safe – his castle.

"How did I know I would find you here?"

Henry nearly fell off of the railing that he'd been perched on when the cheerful voice startled him out of his reverie.

Her hands quickly snatching at his arm might have been the only thing that kept him from tumbling to the ground as Paige said, "Sorry! I thought for sure you'd heard me climb up here!"

He shook his head wordlessly and returned to watching the nearby sea, asking, "How  _did_ you know I'd be here?"

"You looked upset when you left school earlier, and when you're upset, this is where you come." She took her hands off of his arm and settled them on the railing beside him, prompting, "I thought you'd be happy; the town sees the Savior as a hero now,  _and_  she won the election!"

"But that doesn't mean that we win – that she's going to believe, or even if she did that things are going to be okay. We have to play fair; people like the Evil Queen and Mr. Gold don't."

"I believe you, Henry, and she does too, whether or not she'll admit it yet. We'll get there because people  _want_ to believe the good guys.  _That's_ why we  _will_ win. I promise. Right now, I guess we've just got to keep being like the people fighting evil in your book. They don't win every time – not every battle – but they are the ones that get their happily ever after. They win the  _war_  – and so will we; we just have to keep fighting. Okay?"

Every once in awhile, Henry found that he just wanted – needed – to stop and look at this girl who had chosen to be a part of his life and his beliefs about the fairytales – she had chosen to believe him, and believe in him – and that moment was one of those times. He stared over at her, a little awestruck, and she met his gaze, giving him a timid smile.

He returned the gesture, answering resolutely, "Okay."

* * *

Once again, life started to look up; he even got Emma to tell him about his dad – and he had turned out to be a really cool guy, which pleased him to no end. However, life in Storybrooke, Henry was beginning to notice, didn't stay simple, or sometimes even good, for very long. When he'd gone and given Emma a pumpkin pie as a thank-you gift for telling him about his father, there had been a  _stranger in Storybrooke_  with a motorcycle - and if anything in this town had ever been blatantly suspicious, it was that.

So things got weird, and then life – more like the especially  _evil_ Evil Queen – just got mean. Not only was  _the book missing_ , but the Evil Queen _tore down his castle_  – his one real safe place – and for that there would be no forgiving her.

"I've got to find the book!" he hissed, perfectly aware of the fact that it sounded more like a quiet wail. "What if the Evil Queen has it again?"

"Then we'll get it back; if she's got it, doesn't she already know everything that's still in it anyway? You already tore out the important pages, didn't you?"

"Yeah… but still! It's my book – and it's my castle, too!"

"I'm sorry, Henry," Paige apologized sympathetically. "I know that the castle is important to you, and I liked it too."

Henry looked at her sideways and sighed, feeling a niggling  _something unpleasant_ as he did so, muttering, "Where am I supposed to meet Emma and you now?"

"Well, you come to my house sometimes already," she pointed out. "We could always just hang out there – and maybe you could even go to Sheriff Swan's house when you want to see her?"

"Maybe," Henry replied, continuing to grumble. "My mom tends to watch me like a hawk, though."

"That's okay," Paige said, gently nudging his shoulder with hers as she reminded shyly, "We'll find a way. This is just another battle, right?"

"Because we're still going to win the war," Henry recalled with a hesitant smile."

"Exactly," Paige grinned encouragingly, and this time Henry managed to return the smile.

* * *

Henry planted himself at the bar of Granny's Diner and began to try his hardest to write out the stories so that he'd never forget them. He hadn't been there long, though, when the stranger in town came in and sat down beside him, beginning to ask what he was doing, and showing far too much interest in the stories and missing book.

The man knew something, Henry decided, automatically making a mental note that it was something else to talk to Paige about. If she wanted to listen, that was. Because the thing he was beginning to notice about Paige was that… she didn't always have the time for him… or even the conviction concerning his book that he did. Yet she still had a sunny personality and was good for an encouraging word when he needed it.

Paige believed in his ideas, but unlike most people in this town, she was content enough with the life she had, whereas Henry was determined to shake up absolutely  _everything_. Paige believed in  _him_ even before she believed in the curse, and even then, not often was it a good time to hang out with the town crazy kid.

That meant that it was a rare occurrence for  _her_ to come to him, and if she did, he'd figured out that it was only when she had no one else to go see. Sure, she'd say "hi" to him in passing even if she was with her other friends, but ultimately Henry had come to the hard conclusion that their friendship was valued more by him than her.


	4. Chapter 4

He still sought Paige out every once in awhile and discussed his progress or frustrations with her, but she had a magnetic personality, more friends then he would ever know what to do with, and only so much time in each day. So he took the hint that he wasn't really sure if she meant to give or not, backed off, gave her more space, and in the process they lost a lot of the closeness they'd gotten, small as that had been to begin with.

But life – and his mission – continued on… just with less Paige-involvement.

* * *

"She found it, she found it, she found it, she found it!" Henry declared excitedly as he raced up the school steps when he spotted Paige at the top of them. "Emma found the book, and she gave it back to me, and-"

"Henry, hey, take a breath," Paige said with a smile. He paused and obliged her before she said, "Now start over. Did you say that Sheriff Swan found your book?"

He nodded eagerly.

Paige's eyes widened – and then the bell rang. So the two of them started off into the school together, arms nearly brushing as they stayed side by side, talking in the middle of the crowded halls while Henry tried his hardest not to show just how much he enjoyed these moments, rare as they were becoming, that the two of them talked.

* * *

The stranger to town, August, definitely believed Henry about his book and the stories; he'd even gone so far as to call himself a literal "believer" and he'd hinted at the fact that the answers to Henry's problem of getting Emma to believe too lied within the pages of the book. Though Henry really wasn't sure what to make of the writer, and he tried to be suspicious just for safety's sake, it really was hard. He  _was_ ten years old, after all; he wanted to trust, to get excited, but that was hard sometimes too when he'd learned not to trust his own mother.

At least there were people in his world he  _knew_ he could trust. Grace, Archie-

"You okay, Henry?" Ruby propped her elbows up on the counter, giving him a concerned onceover as August walked down the sidewalk outside the diner. "You look like you're having a rough day."

Henry shrugged, answering, "I'll be okay."

Ruby knocked her arm against his again, like she had when she'd put the cinnamon on his cocoa, and gave him another lopsided smile. "You're a smart kid," she offered. "If you've got problems, you'll find an answer to them."

Henry returned the smile, replying, "Thanks, Ruby," and even as the words left his mouth, he felt the flash of an idea – of a  _solution_ – fly into his mind. He knew how he could help Miss Blanchard! "I gotta go to my mom's office!" he declared, throwing the words over his shoulder at Ruby as he made tracks to the door.

He was halfway to his destination when Ruby's words, and their meaning, sunk in; she believed in him too.

* * *

Out of all the things that Henry has talked to Paige about, he's managed to very purposefully keep the man who lived in the huge mansion on the edge of town  _out_ of their conversations. To most, he is simply one of the biggest mysteries in Storybrooke; to Henry, he's a lot less… and a lot more.

He's heard that in Storybrooke, his name is Jefferson Samuels, and Henry's pretty sure that there's something peculiar about him, out of all of Storybrooke's cursed citizens. From what he's heard of the man, Henry's tempted to believe that he still has his memories from the Enchanted Forest, but it's more than that; If Henry's right, Jefferson Samuels is Paige's father…  _Grace's_ father. Because Paige is Grace, and Jefferson is still Jefferson, and they're family – and family should always,  _always_ be together.

The one thing that Paige had mentioned to him is that – admittedly, like a good number of kids her age – she's unhappy with her parents; she feels like she doesn't belong with the people she lives with. And somehow, that had just become another motivator for Henry, another reason to drive himself to see the curse broken.

She deserved to have her father in her life just as much as he deserved to have Emma in his… he just never expected to learn that Jefferson and Emma had… had a bit of a… run-in.

Yet, even after having learned of that run-in, Jefferson was something that he just couldn't bring himself to mention to Paige.

And when Emma asked him who Paige was, he'd just smiled, given her Storybrooke name, and a vague, "She goes to school with me."

After all, was there really much else worth telling about her at the moment? But then he'd seen the look on Emma's face, she'd asked if she could borrow his book, and Henry had begun to wonder if maybe, just maybe, Paige popping up just then wasn't going to turn out to be the best thing that had happened so far.

Because for a split second, he'd thought he'd seen a flicker of...  _belief_ in Emma's eyes.

* * *

Henry considered himself a reasonably smart child, and he wasn't  _always_ as single-minded and oblivious as most people thought he was. He knew Miss Blanchard was in real trouble where Kathryn Nolan was concerned, so when Emma asked for his help, he was all too happy to lend it. The same could be said for August. Or… at least he tried to help August; that didn't go as well as he'd planned for it to.

Though he kept trying to do more than just camp out in his room – he saw to it that Miss Blanchard got her card and let David walk him home… but he never stopped  _thinking_ about his main objective, or at least the Enchanted Forest versions of Storybrooke's citizens. For example, he'd noticed the way that Ruby and Archie had stayed near one another at Miss Blanchard's party, and he began to wonder. No, Ruby and Archie weren't compatible, but Red and Jiminy? When the curse broke, he couldn't help but think that maybe they would work as a couple. Because true love was ultimately the main objective of each fairytale, right? That was the happy ending?

How would Red, a werewolf, and Jiminy, a cricket, make a good couple, he wondered. But still… he did have to wonder.


	5. Chapter 5

_There was a whole new story in his book_! Pinocchio… That he really wasn't sure what to do with, but he was well-versed in the art of fighting back against the Evil Queen, and when she suggested – rather forcibly – that she wanted to have him leave Miss Blanchard's class, he flipped out appropriately. It was a stab that he'd long been expecting, but then came the curveballs that he hadn't quite known to look for. Rumors of a custody battle brewing between his two moms, August getting ahead of himself in his desperation and trying to coerce Emma into believing, and then Emma coming to his house in the middle of the night and asking him if he wanted to come live with her.

He said "yes," of course he did, because that was the truth… he just hadn't expected her to tell him to buckle up as she made tracks for the town line.

Forget a new story in his book;  _this_ was the epitome of a situation that he didn't know how to handle. Understandably, he panicked.  _No_! The curse wasn't broken yet! So he did something desperate and stupid and ran her car off of the road before getting in her face and reminding her of exactly why she needed to stay in Storybrooke.

And, miraculously, she listened. She turned around and took him back to the mayor's house. He even made it to school only a few minutes late – but something caught his eye as he ran towards the building. Paige's bike; there was a white rabbit card on Paige's bike.

The white rabbit. Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter. Realm travelling?

Henry wasn't sure exactly what it meant, but he was pretty sure it wasn't good. He contemplated taking the card and sliding it into his pocket before anyone else noticed it, but then he got the feeling that knowledge of his interference would get back to the Evil Queen, and that couldn't end well for anyone. Recess, he decided; if the card was still here at recess, he would take it then, and until that time, he would just keep an especially sharp eye on Paige to make sure that she stayed safe – which she did. Only, at recess, the card was long gone.

He was torn; he wanted to do something, anything, to be proactive, and to figure out what to do. His instincts were screaming at him that something monumental was about to happen, and he wanted to be able to monitor it at the very least. On the other hand, someone, probably the Evil Queen, had just brought Paige into whatever game she was playing, and he  _had_ to make sure that she remained safe. So for the first time in awhile, he stayed at school even when he didn't want to instead of skipping classes.

This time Paige had to be more important. No, that wasn't right; people –Paige – had always been more important than the actions done by the Evil Queen, but this was the first time that he'd had to make a choice between the two.

Choosing Paige, he realized, came almost too easily. No matter the fact that his pulling back hadn't seemed to bother her as much as he, well, as he would've liked, something in him just had to make her the top priority right now.

When school was out at last, Paige boarded the bus none the wiser, and almost as soon as she was gone, Emma contacted him through the walkie. She sounded strange when she told him she wanted to see him, and so he hurried to hers and Miss Blanchard's apartment at record time – only to find that she was planning on leaving town.

And that was before he noticed the  _apple_ turnover on her counter! Like August had before, he reached a certain threshold of desperation – and ate a bite of the poisoned turnover himself.

Emma – the Savior, his  _mother_ – was in the middle of making a smart-aleck remark when the darkness closed in on his vision and he crumpled to the floor.

But he had certainly never expected to find what he had when he'd awoken…

Sweet oxygen filled Henry's lungs as he took a deep breath, halfway rising from the hospital bed with the force of it as he registered Emma hovering over him while he replied with a smile, "I love you too; you saved me."

Though there were still plenty of questions to be answered – why didn't they go back to the Enchanted Forest?  _What_ was that purple cloud of smoke? What was be supposed to do about the Evil Queen being his mom  _now_? – the curse was broken, and that was a lot to take in, to be excited over, in and of itself.

In the middle of everything that began happening, some far part of his brain still registered that he needed to be worried for Regina, but too many things were overtaking that concern in his mind. He was quickly let go from the hospital – no one was even concerned with anything remotely resembling an official discharge considering the circumstances – and was soon on his way to Main Street with Emma. The resulting reunion with her parents – and the fact that he had  _grandparents_ – was one of the best things ever, but his happiness didn't last long when other things were brought up.

That cloud was  _magic_ coming into Storybrooke, and the townspeople were getting ready to  _murder_ his mom! Fortunately Snow White and Prince Charming, along with Emma, Archie, Red, Granny, and the dwarves, seemed to have their heads sufficiently about them, and ran quickly to save her. Nestled in the safety of Snow White's arms, he watched in poorly-concealed horror and terror as David and Emma kept Dr. Whale from strangling his adopted mom… but then the Charmings put her in jail, and he really wasn't sure what he thought of that. He knew enough to know that he was scared, unsure of who to trust and what to do… and he knew that he had woefully romanticized what was going to happen when the curse broke!

It wasn't supposed to be like this!


	6. Chapter 6

By the time he stepped outside of the sheriff's station, he honestly wasn't sure how much he could handle, and as pathetic as it was, he was kind of grateful when Emma pointed to Ruby sitting in her car and told him to go with the waitress for now. Maybe at Granny's he would be able to take a breath and collect his thoughts.

But that didn't prove to be as simple as he was hoping it would be; the restaurant had been considered the social hub of the town for forever, and when the curse broke, the place had apparently flooded with people hoping to find answers. He managed to find his way to a seat at the bar, and he just sat there, watching the world panic around him as he fought to keep the emotion from his own head.

He still nearly screamed when small arms were suddenly flung around him from behind, squeezing hard… like someone seeking comfort.

"Henry!" a familiar voice gasped with relief – and that's when he realized what was going on.

"Hi, Paige," he replied, wiggling out of her grip and turning the stool around to look at her.

"You broke the curse, didn't you?" she asked, suddenly sporting a broad grin.

He nodded, feeling none too excited himself.

Ignoring the way the press of people kept jostling her, Paige declared, "I knew it! And my name-" somebody else rammed into her as she tried to speak to him. "My name is Grace. Did you know that?"

Henry looked at her nervously as he nodded yet again, not feeling inclined to speak. He really wanted to just curl up and process what was going on, but there was too much going on still, and something, he noticed, was wrong with Paige's – Grace's – smile, with the way her hug had been more of a desperate clinging.

"Here," he offered, scooting over on his stool so that he could share the small space with her once he was sure she wasn't angry with him for withholding information about her.

She clambered gratefully up beside him, though it wasn't an entirely comfortable arrangement, and he had to kind of wrap one of his arms around her shoulders to make it work best. Well, he wouldn't have  _had_ to, he supposed, but he did it anyway; she obviously wanted the hug. She burrowed gratefully into his arms and asked, her voice suddenly shaky as she asked, "What now?"

She thought he had the answers, he realized with a sudden flash of insight – and panic! He wanted to help her, really he did, but he had to tell her the truth. "I don't know."

"I have to find my papa," Grace said, softly but decisively.

"Of course; I'm sure lots of people are going to be looking for their family," he replied instantly.

He  _didn't_ tell her that he'd overheard Emma talking about her experience with Jefferson – who claimed to be the Mad Hatter – and that he knew exactly where to find the man. Not yet, anyway.

"What happened?" she asked spontaneously, just as suddenly wrapping her arms around him again. "How did you break the curse?"

She was looking for a distraction, and they both knew it, but, hey, maybe he could use one too right now – not that her closeness wasn't proving distracting enough. It felt strange for her to be looking to him for help in such a hard time, and he wasn't sure what he thought about it – just that he was ten years old and it was making him mildly uncomfortable, even though pushing her away was the farthest thing from his mind. So he obliged her and began to tell the story of what, essentially,  _Emma_ had done – just like he'd always known she would.

When he finished, Grace's thoughts boomeranged back to the Mad Hatter as she asked him, "Can you help me find my dad?"

"Sure I will." He nibbled on his lip, considering the problem of how to go about it before he shrugged off his backpack and flung it up onto the counter, rooting around for a piece of paper and some colored pencils, which he placed in front of her, suggesting, "We can make a flyer. Do you want to draw him or do you want me to?"

She looked glad to have the distraction and quickly took a pencil in hand, answering, "I will" as she set to work. A half hour later, they were just putting the finishing touches on the flyer when the sky darkened ominously, wind began howling outside, and what little piece of sanity the two of them had managed to reclaim within themselves flew out the window as  _something_ sailed by outside the window. People began screaming, and Grace curled into him so much she nearly knocked him off the barstool as she asked shakily, "What is that?"

Henry didn't know, but he heard someone say from within in the crowd, "A wraith!"

Grace gasped, apparently having a better idea of what that was then Henry did since she now had her other memories back , but before he could ask, Ruby was at his side and, apparently not even  _seeing_  Grace, saying, "Come with me, kid, we have to go."

Henry quickly snatched up Grace's flyer, telling her "I'll take care of this" before he hurried after Ruby.

But he was in no way, shape, or form ready for what he saw when he and Ruby followed that thing's trail of destruction to the mayor's office. The Evil Queen – his  _mom_ – was using magic to  _crush_ David – his  _gramps_ –  _to death_.

"Mom!" he called out, racing forward before he or Ruby could stop himself.

And it only got worse from there. Emma and Mary Margret were gone – they'd fallen through a  _portal_  – and he'd just been given a front-row seat to just how evil his other mom really was. He knew he was emotional when he said it, but he meant it full-well when he told her he didn't want to see her again unless she could get Emma and Mary Margaret back. In the end, he'd gone back to his teacher's – and mom's – apartment with David, once again wearing a smile, small as it was.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, he ended up back with Ruby – and Archie too – this time in the makeshift crisis center. There was a board of flyers like the one he and Grace had made, but for a moment he thought about not posting it. He thought about just taking the flyer directly to Jefferson and telling him where to find Grace, but in the end, he didn't. He posted the paper and purposed to watch and see if anyone took it. Right now, if one thing could go according to the plan meant for it that sounded good to him, so he followed the plan for the flyer… and then followed David when he left the square and returned to Mary Margaret and Emma's apartment.

He'd learned over the past twenty-four hours to expect the unexpected, and he certainly hadn't expected to find that Gramps had Jefferson's hat. But telling Gramps what he knew – but not the parts he only  _suspected_ – merely got him abandoned in the apartment. He pattered uselessly around, debated going somewhere or checking on Grace's flyer, but ultimately didn't do anything until it was time for the meeting at city hall.

Seeing the Evil Queen's threatening display of magical powers made him wish that he hadn't come, but it was only because he had that he was able to keep people safe by placating her and returning to her house with her like she wanted.

However, his attempt at escaping from the house that currently didn't feel like the home that he'd spent his whole life in didn't go as planned. As a matter of fact, it left him thoroughly shaken and disheartened as he was struck in the face again with just how horrible the Evil Queen really was… until she called him downstairs only for him to find his Gramps, and her declaration that Henry was going to go live with him.

After that, despite the absences of Emma and Mary Margaret, as time passed the townspeople began to adjust to life with two sets of memories, living lives that merged both who they were here and in what they called "their world."

Yet, it was only the day after he'd moved in with David that, when he went to check on the board of flyers, that Henry noticed one in particular and took initiative of his own to set straight a thing he knew he could be helpful in. Poor Marco's flyer for Pinocchio depicted a young boy, and he wasn't going to find him that way.

So Henry marched into Granny's with David at a time he knew the carpenter would be there and whispered in his ear, "Check the room that Granny's rented to August."

A few minutes later, sitting on a barstool beside his gramps and taking a deep, somehow synchronized, drink of tea, he decided that maybe, just maybe, life was going to turn out okay.

However, that was before the next morning, when Gramps told him that he'd already talked to Jefferson – who apparently couldn't help them – without Henry there and tried ordering him to go to school. But it wasn't like he was a stranger to skipping class when he wanted to – and he wanted to, so he did. The first place he went was to the board set up to locate family members, to check on Grace's flyer. It was gone this time, and that was a huge thing; now he just had to figure out who had taken it.

Hours of searching and asking around had led him to the best case scenario – Jefferson had it, and somebody had seen him heading towards the docks. So that's where Henry went.

Sharp eyes were quick to spot the man he was looking for – and the flyer that he held in his hands. Approaching slowly so he didn't startle the distracted man, Henry lowered himself onto the bench beside him, asking, "Jefferson, right? The Mad Hatter?"

He was here to ask him for help about Emma and Mary Margaret – primarily – but he couldn't just ignore the fact that Jefferson was holding Grace's flyer, despite the tidbit about his mom's vault that had just been dropped into his lap. He had just told Henry he couldn't help him, and honestly, he looked like someone who didn't even know how to help himself at the moment. So maybe Henry could try to nudge him in the right direction… That's what a real friend would do, especially since he knew how much Grace was missing her Papa, and the worst that Jefferson could do was ignore what he said.

So he dove right in, asking innocently, "What's that?"

After all, all he could do was try, right? For Grace's sake.

* * *

Once he had given Jefferson his opinion – more like a piece of his mind – on how he should handle Grace, he turned to another job at hand: getting into his mom's vault. However, as largely seemed to be the case since the curse's breaking, grownups were quick to get in the way of his plans. He'd barely been in the vault two minutes before Gramps found him… apparently with the Evil Queen's help.

And all he really wanted right now was to get Snow White and Emma back!

But Gramps wasn't as convinced that he could be of use towards that end as Henry was himself, and in the end he was shuffled off to school until it let out and Gramps returned to pick him up.

Sitting in his mom's bug and waiting for Gramps to come out of the convenience store across the street, he was treated to a perfect view of the consequence of his talk with Jefferson earlier. The Mad Hatter stepped from into view, and he must've called for Grace, because she stopped in her tracks, freezing for a second with her back to him before she whipped around and ran to him. Jefferson pulled his thrilled daughter into his arms, falling to one knee before he lifted her into his arms and carried her away.

 _Probably to live with him_ , Henry thought despondently, not prepared for the way that seeing Grace reunite with her father…  _hurt_.

But before he could think about it too much, Gramps was there, knocking on the car window, presenting him with a set of wooden swords, informing him that he did need him to help find Emma and Mary Margaret… and Henry climbed out of the car with a smile on his face.


	8. Chapter 8

"You look happy," Henry commented innocently, sliding behind Grace into the lunch line at school a few days later – the first time he'd seen her since she'd been reunited with her father.

Grace beamed while simultaneously giving him an assessing look as she declared, "Papa told me it was you who convinced him to come for me."

Henry shrugged, saying simply, "It was the right thing to do."

"Still, it's a huge thing to do!" She momentarily abandoned her tray to give him a tight, albeit quick hug as she said gratefully, " _Thank you_ , Henry."

Henry grinned back at her, answering, "I'm glad I could help; that's what I'm here for."

At the end of the school day, he noticed her talking to a few of her friends as they headed for the bus, per the norm, but for some reason her smile kept falling farther and farther until she turned away from the group with a full-on frown. He hadn't meant for her to, but she caught him watching, and sloughed her way over to him when his eyebrows drew together with the unasked question:  _what's wrong_?

"You okay?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah," she said, like she was trying to convince the both of them. "I guess I'm just not used to  _all_ of my friends being 'busy.'"

That was something that Henry could – and yet couldn't – come close to understanding, but it was what she was hurting over, so he tried to be sympathetic as he reminded her, "Well… I'm sure it's just getting settled from the curse that's got everything up in the air, but at least now you've got Jefferson to go home to, right?"

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she repeated, "right," and just like that she was gone again with a smile, throwing another, "Thanks, Henry," over her shoulder as she ran.

On his part, Henry was content to do as he and Gramps had discussed this morning; he was going to the stables to take care of his new pony. But it wasn't like something as simple as that could go according to plan – no, not in Storybrooke, apparently. He hadn't even been at the stable long before his pony bolted out of the stall with a whinny of terror, knocking Henry over in the process and leaving him to stumble back onto his feet as he came face to face with a man wearing Enchanted Forest clothing and blood on his hands.

Something was  _wrong_ with this man, but before he could take a sufficient breath, the man had him lifted off his feet by the throat… and then his gramps and mom were there. Gramps moved him out of harms' way and when he ordered him to run, Henry did so without a second thought. He ran blindly without knowing where he was going –until he got there, that was. He'd been running blindly, ignoring his sore throat and exhausted legs… until he stumbled onto Jefferson Samuels' stoop and knocked weakly on the door, still gasping for breath.

"Henry!" Jefferson was obviously surprised to see him there as he asked, "Can I help you?"

Henry didn't know if he could or not, he didn't even know why he'd come here exactly, just that his first instinct must've been… well, Grace, considering how many people in his life were… otherwise occupied. So he merely gasped, "Grace."

"I'm right here," Grace said, obviously concerned as she ducked underneath her father's arm and all but shoved him out of the doorway as she took Henry's wrist and led him into her house, asking him the question he'd put to her not even two hours before: "You okay?"

Grace shoved him onto a couch and perched beside him as Jefferson disappeared, returning with a glass of water that he handed to him with the order to "drink." Henry gulped the cool liquid down greedily, starting to realize just how far he'd ran before he set the cup aside and said, "I'm fine now."

"No, you're not," Grace contradicted. "Something's wrong. What happened?"

So Henry struggled to explain it as best as he could, the man's sudden appearance, his fairytale clothing, disturbed mannerisms… and how he'd tried to strangle him.

At some point in all of this, Jefferson had slipped away; Henry could hear him talking on the phone in the other room, and he thought he heard Gramps' name in the conversation.

Once she was sure that he safe and comfortable, Grace sat further back on the couch, curling her legs up beside and asking curiously, "Why did you come here?"

Henry swallowed, answering honestly, "I dunno. You're… kinda my only friend… at least who's my age, and all of my family is…" His family had expanded recently to include a lot of different things, and he found that wasn't sure how to finish that sentence, so he let it trail off instead, noting the way Grace's face fell ever so slightly before she spoke.

"Yeah," she said with a sad sort of sigh. "I get that now."

"Oh?" he asked, concern pulling his eyebrows down like had happened at school.

"Henry," she said with the smallest roll of her eyes. "We both know my friends aren't just 'busy'; they don't want to be around me anymore." She glanced nervously over the back of the couch and lowered her voice as she glanced in the direction of the kitchen before admitting, "They're scared to come around because of who Papa was in our world."

Henry nodded; that he did understand. To some extent, he'd been dealing with that his whole life as the child of the disliked mayor – and that was before people had known her as the Evil Queen! "Yeah," he used her words. "I get that." She smiled sadly at him then as he continued impulsively, wanting to make that smile stick around, "But you've still got me, and I meant what I said at lunch; I'll be more than willing to help you anytime if you need me to."

She looked at him hesitantly, asking uncertainly, "Why?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Because…" It wasn't  _just_ that it was the right thing to do, not really, but he wasn't sure "why," so he answered only, "we're friends, and that's what friends do."

Grace's grin widened then – mission accomplished – before Jefferson inadvertently broke off their conversation when he strode back into the room, declaring, "I called David, and he's on his way to pick you up, Henry."

"Thanks."

"Do you want to play a game until he gets here?" Grace offered.

It was a perfectly normal suggestion, and after the time they'd been having since the curse broke, something normal sounded heavenly, so he replied with an eager "sure" and trailed her to her bedroom.

And that, he realized, was the day they  _both_  found their best friend.

* * *

Gramps never said anything about the fact that Henry had ended up at Jefferson's house, of all places, and Henry was grateful for that… but his grandfather wasn't blind; they all saw what was happening. Henry was getting the friendship with Grace that he had originally wanted, and loving every minute of it.

Half the time after school, they ended up at Granny's, sharing a root beer float, sundae, or banana split as they sat at the counter under Ruby's watchful eye and talked about whatever came to mind.

_"_ _Did you know that Mr. Gold has a girlfriend… but I think may have broke up. Who is she?"_

_"_ _My mom acts like she knew that guy that tried to hurt me at the stables, and she's upset. What should I do…?"_

_"_ _You don't look like you've been sleeping; why not? Are you worried about your mom and grandma? It'll be okay."_

_"_ _We found fairy dust, and that means we can get them back!"_

_"_ _See, I told you that you could!" "You know it's safe for you to sleep, right? David's there and I'm sure I could even spend the night if it'd help."_

_"_ _Why is there a burn on your hand?!"_

_"_ _Mom and Mr. Gold found a way for me to sleep!"_

_"_ _Have you seen Ruby? I heard she was in trouble… something about that mechanic who knows Ashley Boyd…"_

_"_ _Gramps told me he helped her take care of it; see, she's even back at work… Grace, Mr. Spencer destroyed our only way to get Emma and Mary Margaret back!"_

_"_ _I think Mr. Gold is back with the new librarian."_

Nothing was off-limits, but for the first time, when he mentioned wanting to go back into the dream world and talk to the woman named Aurora, they disagreed; she became obviously afraid for him.

"Please don't; what if something goes wrong? You could be hurt again, couldn't you? You're the only friend I have now, and if something  _does_ get out of hand, the only way to break a sleeping curse is true love's kiss – and it's not like an eleven-year-old is going to have a true love!"

Quelling her concern with a soft smile, Henry bravely reminded her, "I've got the necklace, and Gramps, my mom, and Mr. Gold will be there; I'll be alright. Now listen, since school's out for the weekend, I'll come by your house tomorrow afternoon, so you'll know everything turned out okay. Okay?"

She sighed deeply, resigned to the fact that she couldn't talk him out of him as she repeated, "Okay."

But that wasn't the way things worked out in the end. Regina kept him with her at Mr. Gold's shop, but his news couldn't wait, and he ended up texting Grace instead, using his mom's cell phone.

_I'm safe now. Gramps went under a sleeping curse when they decided not to send me back again. At Gold's shop with them._

There was so much more that he wanted to tell her, but it took far, far too long to text even the message that he did send using the ancient phone, so he was left hoping she read between the lines – and that she wouldn't. The last place he wanted Grace was in Mr. Gold's shop among this mess… and the one that he could feel brewing with the Evil Queen's mom.

There was apparently still a thread of hope though, because his mom and Mr. Gold left him at the shop with his still sleeping Gramps, so that they could go get ready for Emma and Mary Margaret's return. And for all of an hour he was happy… until Red and the dwarves raced into the back of the shop and told him what the duo was actually up to. He and Red barely made it to the well in time for him to talk the Evil Queen out of it, and even then, everyone just barely survived – but at the end of the hellish day, Emma and Mary Margaret  _did_ come home!

He didn't let go of Emma – of his mom – for a long time. Not when they came out of the well, or raced back to Gold's shop, or saw Mary Margaret give Gramps true loves kiss and wake him up. He only barely did it when she asked him to – so she could "talk to Gold alone for a minute, kid."

But when she disappeared through the curtain, he went to his  _other_ mom, Regina, and hugged  _her_ , declaring with a smile, "I was right; you have changed."

And when Emma called to him, asking him if he was "hungry" and wanted to go eat with them, he quickly raised back to her side, happily hugging her close once again, internally cheering over a day that had actually ended well.

And they even extended the good times over into the next evening at a "welcome home" party held at Granny's for Emma and Mary Margaret. After sending Grace a longer email and giving more details as to what had happened since he'd left Granny's Friday, she was more than understanding when he said that he wanted to spend Saturday with Emma – but she  _was_ at the party.

She was quick to find him too. She flopped down beside him at the counter once his mom wandered away and gave him a hug, one that he actually managed to return this time, at least a little, and declared how happy she was that he was safe… then she made a comment about how Archie and Red were side by side – again. Once again things were good… until the impossible happened.


	10. Chapter 10

It was Monday. It was only  _Monday_ when things fell apart again. He got off of the bus to find Emma and his grandparents waiting for him. He'd had an uneasy feeling all day after the little "meeting" with Pongo and Red earlier in the day, but nothing could've prepared him for the news that  _Archie had died_ , to say nothing of the fact that Emma and the Charmings thought that the  _Evil Queen_  had done it!

But what he couldn't figure out is  _why_? Why would she kill him when she had been trying  _so hard_ to be  _better for him_. Even after the funeral, he thought about it. Sitting on his grandparents' bed, ignoring the goings on around him – and no less than six concerned messages from Grace on the answering machine – he pondered what might have  _actually_ happened – because he truly didn't believe it could be the Evil Queen! She wouldn't murder someone! Not… not after Graham… would she?

He wanted to be brave – courageous, even, like his gramps – in the face of it all, but he couldn't. He wanted to do something for someone else, no matter how small – like give Ruby a hug when he saw her suppress a sob as she left the gathering early – but he couldn't even do that. He was too lost in his own thoughts… and grief over losing one of the few friends he had – maybe even at the Evil Queen's hand – to even answer the phone when Grace called yet again. Instead, he just sat on the bed and listened to Archie's office voicemail over and over. Until Pongo bounded into the room in front of his mom, distracting him from his conversation with Gramps and giving him a reason to smile.

When he left the apartment building with Pongo, he found another surprise waiting for him, apparently in the process of coming to see him.

"Henry!" Grace said, relief obvious in her voice – along with a healthy dose of concern. "Hey… are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered automatically, tightening his grip on Pongo's leash. But when she gave him a look that peered straight into his heart and soul, seeing the truth anyway, he gave up and told it to her. "No… no, I'm not okay. I miss him like crazy, and it's only been a few days!"

"You'll be alright," she promised, laying a sympathetic hand on her arm and offering gently, "You've still got me… as long as you'll let me be there for you." He frowned, then looked down at his feet guiltily as he realized what she was talking about. "You stopped answering my calls, and all I want is to help, to make sure you're okay. You're my friend and I want that for you all the time, every day… but when you're not okay, part of letting me be a friend is letting me be there for you when things are hard. Promise me you'll let me do that." Her voice was soft as she reminded him, "You're all I have too, remember?"

Henry nodded, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry," and then a firm. "You're right; next time I need help, I'll let you know."

"Even if you just need to talk?" Grace double-checked.

He nodded obediently – and this time he was the one to reach out to hug her. Satisfied, Grace nodded once and smiled before she turned and walked back the way she had come.

Henry went his own way, and after taking Pongo for a walk around the building, he returned to the apartment… where his day just kept up its sudden trend of getting better!

 _Archie Hopper_ , alive and well, knocked on the apartment door, and the first moment he could, he sent a text to Grace, informing her of this fact.

But the next morning, he was sending her another text – one he could've never seen coming in a million years:  _Emma and I are going with Mr. Gold to the airport and on a trip. I'll contact you when we get back._

* * *

And indeed he did. He texted her on Emma's phone as soon as possible.

_We're back. Remember our promise? Please meet me at Granny's._

He had never needed to talk to someone more in his entire life – and for once he didn't want to talk to Archie; after the craziness of their trip, he genuinely wanted to see Grace again, and soak in the happiness, and even strength, that he'd found her presence alone gave him. So talking to her was, in fact, his top priority when Ruby came, got him, and took him to Granny's. He settled into a booth away from Ruby's listening ears – worthless if she had wolf hearing, but it was the principle, right? – and pulled his sketchpad as he waited for Grace.

There were a lot of reasons that Henry would randomly start drawing – he got artsy a lot when he was alone, actually – but this time he did it to calm his mind down, much as he had when he and Grace had made her flyer. He wanted to have his thoughts well in order when Grace slid into the booth across from him.

But when she came skidding into the diner and saw him, she plunked down  _beside_ him, giving him one of her bone-crunching, desperate hugs that wreaked utter havoc on his previously orderly thought processes. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly once she'd unwound her arms from around him.

His sketchpad had gone unnoticed, and he was grateful, considering that he'd started a drawing of Emma and Neal back when they'd been teenagers in love. He didn't want to have to explain that one… but as he slid his sketchpad back into his backpack, he realized that he  _did_ want to tell her – he wanted to tell Grace absolutely everything that had happened since he'd last seen her because he was happy and excited… and in some ways afraid.


	11. Chapter 11

He told her all of it: Mr. Gold showing up at their apartment, his demand, everything that had happened at the airport, being left with Mr. Gold outside Neal's apartment building, being told that Neal –  _Baelfire_ – was his father… and that made Rumplestiltskin his  _grandfather_! And Rumplestiltskin was sick, quite possibly dying, and had blamed it on him, and Cora was here and trying to hurt the people Henry loved. But, on a brighter note, he had helped Neal sail the Jolly Roger. Just thinking about it all made Henry's temples start to throb.

"But, hey," he said, wrapping up his story as he took a bite out of the banana split that Ruby had set between the two of them at some point. "We'll make it through this, we always do."

"Always," Grace repeated with an encouraging smile, squeezing his wrist encouragingly.

"So what about you; what did I miss here while I was gone?"

Grace rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath as she wondered aloud, "Where to start?"

Suddenly, Henry thought of a remark Mr. Gold had made when he'd come to their apartment, and he asked about it, wondering if Grace might've heard something useful. "Mr. Gold's girlfriend, Belle, did something happen to her around the time we left? He seemed to think she was… defenseless or something."

"You didn't hear?" Grace asked in surprise before she took her own bite of ice cream in preparation for the story she was about to tell. "Alright then, I guess I'll start there."

And they did. In a way that Henry hoped he never took for granted, in a way that felt so good, so nice, and so  _right_ , they just started right back where they had left off, and he loved every second of it.

* * *

 _Why_ , he wondered in exasperation, did everything in this town have to be so  _hard_. He had a father now, but that came at the price of having Rumplestiltskin as his grandfather, with meant that everyone in town was talking about him. Cora was dead and gone, but  _apparently_ Mary Margaret had been the one to kill her, which meant even more gossip around town… and a vengeful Evil Queen on the loose.

An Evil Queen… who was his mom… who wanted to cast a curse on him. This was his life – and he was dead tired of it as Emma walked with him to Granny's diner. Neal was there waiting for him, and the moment he walked in the door, Ruby put an "extra large sundae, extra everything" down on the table. Henry pushed it off to the side when when father offered it to son because, darn it all, after the morning he'd had, he was not in the mood for a bribe! And really… something as mundane as a sundae from the son of Rumplestiltskin? Henry had expected better. At least the look Ruby had given Baelfire meant that  _she_ knew how well he would take it… or not take it, for that matter.

And then his father started talking…  _about Henry going back with him to Manhattan_. At first he'd been quick to strike the idea down, reminding Baelfire that the best thing to do would be to get rid of magic altogether, and while his father agreed, he still thought it was best to get Henry out of the way for awhile, what with Regina wanting to curse him and everything.

Henry was quick to give in, but his mind was still going in the other directions – how to get rid of the magic in town? – even as he talked with Baelfire and polished off his sundae. At the earliest opportunity that he had without making his dad suspicious, he grabbed his backpack, excused himself to the bathroom… and darted out the back entrance towards the mines.

He had a plan!

And though it wasn't long before his  _plan_ was foiled at the well, by Regina, Emma, Neal, and Ruby, the  _results_ he got did take care of one of his problems; Regina sent the curse of the Empty Heart – the one she'd wanted to cast on him – up in smoke. For once he found that he didn't actually  _mind_ the adults getting in his way – it wasn't like he'd  _looked forward_ to blowing up a chunk of the forest – and he was able to walk away from the well between Emma and Neal feeling just a little less worried.

For a few short days, he was happy and doing normal kid stuff like hanging out with his newfound family members and Grace. Then when something did come up _again_ , the day went by in something of a blur, both mundane – because he went to school – and insane – because he saw August had turned into a wooden puppet, and then was transformed back into a young human boy again before his eyes. It wasn't the weirdest thing Henry had seen in his life unfortunately – Ruby transforming to and from her wolf form definitely took the cake in his life so far, and he'd only seen that one time, and it had been by accident even then – and the next day, he found himself back at normal activities. Namely, he spent the day in town with his dad… and like half of all things in Storybrooke; their day had its start at Granny's.

He just hadn't expected to see Grace come in the door as early as he and Baelfire were there. Her eyes met his where he was sitting in the booth across from his father, facing the door as he ate pancakes, and she waved eagerly before faltering when she didn't recognize the man Henry was sitting with. That's when it hit Henry; since Baelfire's coming to town, he'd spent less time with Grace, and she'd never even met his dad! He was quick to wave her over with a smile, causing Neal to turn in his seat to see who had caught his eye.

"Friend?" Neal asked under his breath, sporting an inquisitive smirk as he turned back to Henry.

"Stop it; I'm only twelve!" Henry objected.


	12. Chapter 12

Bae asked, "I thought you were eleven?"

"I just had my birthday right after we got back from New York!" Henry informed him as Grace came shyly over to their table. He scooted over on his bench seat, making room for her, and she slid in beside him. "Dad, this is Grace. Grace, this is my dad, Baelfire."

"Nice to meet you, Grace," Neal answered amicably, leaning his arms onto the table as he asked, "Do you guys go to school together."

"We're in the same class," Henry volunteered.

"Well," Bae said with a smile of rueful affection towards Henry."Since it doesn't look like my kid's planning on trying to escape me anytime soon, do want me to grab you something to eat, Grace?"

"No, no, no," she said hastily. "I'm fine."

Henry narrowed his eyes at her before he slid out of the booth and marched up to the counter, asking Ruby for an extra fork.

"Meeting the parents already, is she?" Ruby asked with a teasing smile and a glance at Grace as she gave Henry the utensil he'd asked for.

"What is with you people today?" Henry asked in exasperation.

"You and her do the same thing with me and Archie," Red pointed out in good humor.

"Except," Henry retorted, pointing at her with the fork. "We're right about you two!"

Ruby pressed a finger to her lips, whispering conspiratorially, "Shhh…"

Henry sighed, grinning despite himself before he turned and went to sit back down beside Grace. He handed her the fork and pointed to his own plate, pushing it towards her so that it was between them both and indicating that she could eat what she wanted – no big deal considering how often they shared after-school deserts here. Then he got a good look at the strange look on her face… and the expectant one on his dad's.

"Did I ask a bad question?" Baelfire asked Grace, taking in her expression as well.

Something had happened in the minute that Henry had been gone, and he didn't know what… or what to do about it.

"I… no," Grace answered slowly, stabbing at the stack of pancakes. "My, uh, I don't even know where my mom is; she's not in Storybrooke."

Ah… Baelfire had asked her about her parents – maybe even who they were – and considering how most people in this town treated her because of her dad, that was oftentimes a hard subject for her. For someone who had been so used to being surrounded by friends – at least as Paige – she was still hurt by the way her friends had forsaken her… and, besides that, she was still relearning what it meant to have Jefferson in her life. The situation was something that she still struggled with, magic-wielding parents were something that Henry had in common with her, and they discussed it frequently.

But that's when it hit him; they were sitting here talking to the  _son of Rumplestiltskin_ , and if anyone besides Henry was going to understand Grace's uncertainties, it would be Baelfire! "It's okay," he spoke at the same time the thought came to mind. "You can tell him any of it." Grace and Baelfire both looked at him in surprise as he returned her gaze, adding hesitantly, "I'm pretty sure anything you can come up with is small potatoes compared to his dad."

Neal sat back in his seat then, arms crossing over his chest as he assessed Henry and Grace with narrowed eyes and said, "Alright, I'm listening, what's the big secret?" He looked at Grace, guessing shrewdly, "Does your dad have magic or something?"

Grace blinked, glancing hesitantly at Henry for reconfirmation before she answered that. Henry squeezed her hand encouragingly under the table, and that was all that it took for the floodgates to open. "My dad is, um, the Mad Hatter… and people aren't always, aren't very often…"

Bae supplied carefully, "Understanding?"

Grace smiled gratefully at him as she met his eyes, with that one word realizing for herself that here was someone else who understood what she was going through – perhaps even more than Henry did – and even more than that, he'd lived to tell the tale as an adult. She nodded and Henry just watched in silence, letting himself fade into the background as his dad and his best friend hit it off and talked about their respective fathers.

Henry hadn't seen until then just how starved Grace was for expanding her social circle again, and, sitting watching the two of them, he determined then and there that he would help her do just that.

Twenty minutes later, when Jefferson walked into the diner in search of his daughter, Grace instantly changed the subject, but it was obvious that she had made another friend and gotten things off of her chest that she'd needed to. It was because of that that Henry kept right on smiling even as Grace gave him – and Baelfire – a quick hug before she darted out the door with her hand in Jefferson's.

Watching him watch Grace, Baelfire commented lightly, "She's nice."

And it wasn't that Henry didn't catch the hidden meaning behind the words, it was that he just didn't care to refute them, and answered simply, "Yeah, she is."

* * *

Soon after the day spent with his dad, he got one with his mom – Emma, that is – for an entirely different reason though it may have been. Operation Praying Mantis was an absolute go… at least for a few hours… between stakeouts, searching Neal's room, ending in a good old-fashioned bowl of ice cream to soothe Emma's sorrows.

But what happened after that left Henry wishing for times when ice cream was enough to solve the problems.

First, Regina went missing, then Emma told him that his father – the father he'd barely had in his life, barely gotten to know – had  _died_ … while Storybrooke was falling apart around them, threatening to leave  _everyone_ in town dead.

And in the middle of all of this, he found himself simply returning to Granny's.


	13. Chapter 13

But then, with a simple phone call there was always that one person that he could count on coming to Granny's to stand by him. And apparel Gran knew it, because as they were getting in the car to go to the diner, she commented, "I'm going to be making calls as we go; you can call Jefferson if you want to… if you wouldn't mind."

"I don't have his number."

"Call Paige's phone, then; I'm sure you've got that."

Henry blinked. For some reason, he was always still surprised when someone brought up the fact that they knew he and Grace were friends; they weren't so secretive about it anymore, but they still only met in public places or, on rare occasions, at her house, when he needed to get away and found the time after having _too much_ adventure.

And now today might be his last chance to ever do so.

With that horrible thought, he pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and did as Gran had asked.

"Hi, Henry!"

"Grace, hey, listen. Where are you?"

"At home with Papa," she answered, the happiness at hearing from him fleeing from her voice when she heard the tone in his. "Why, is something wrong?"

He'd just lost his father, and it didn't look like almost all of the rest of his family had long to live either. Yes, everything was wrong. There was too much to tell her, and not enough time, so he had to prioritize, to do what was best for  _her_ right now.

By now, almost everyone would know that something was going on, but Jefferson's house was near the town line, as isolated as it got around here. Maybe the tremors that had started coming intermittently couldn't be felt all the way out there yet.

"Yeah," he answered softly, tears suddenly pricking at the backs of his eyes at the thought of the perfect girl on the other end of this conversation actually  _dying_. He'd meant it when he said earlier that he didn't want to lose anyone else –and it was a sudden jolt to realize that she was extremely high on that list of people. "You and your dad and the rest of the townspeople need to come to Granny's; Gran and I are on our way there now."

"Alright," she answered solemnly, the bravery in her tone somehow filtering through the phone and seeping into him – but then, she'd long had that effect on him. "Is there anything else that we need to do?"

"No, just hurry… and please, Grace, be safe."

"We will," she answered immediately, and Henry had a flash of memory, back to the conversation they'd had forever ago, before he'd gone to Boston.

Now he understood why she had frowned at him when he kept turning the conversation back to Emma. He wasn't worried about Jefferson; he just wanted  _her_ safe.

He and Gran beat her and Jefferson to Granny's, but the moment she stepped in the door, he was up and running towards her while she ran to him. They collided in the middle of the diner, clinging to one another like they were the other's lifeline – she  _was_ his lifeline, though now was truly a god-awful time to figure that out, considering she was about to die – and just breathing. He closed his eyes as she laid her head on his shoulder, breathing in the scent of her strawberry shampoo, noticing all of these things about  _this one person_  in the moments before he could very well lose them all.

No! He couldn't think that way! They were going to get the bean, they were going to go back to the Enchanted Forest, they were going to stop this thing, and they were going to  _live_.

But before he could say a word to her, try to offer some sort of comfort, Gramps, Hook, and one – but only one – of his moms swept into the diner, with Gramps declaring, "We have the bean!"

And for one split second everything was okay – was at least  _going to be_ okay – but then Regina was going to die, and he was on his way to the mine with Emma and the Charmings, and then they were going to die together, and then they weren't going to die at all.

He had started to literally feel like he couldn't catch his breath – and that was  _before_ he was kidnapped by Greg and Tamara and taken to Neverland!

* * *

Having retreated back to a corner of the room to stand beside her father when Henry surged forward to talk to his mother, Grace found that she actually could not draw a breath as she watched him head out the door with his family. There were so many things that she wanted to say – things that she wanted to  _figure out_ where he,  _they_ , were concerned – but she couldn't even breathe, so she certainly couldn't talk. All she could do – which was the least she could do – was hold her tears at bay until he was gone, so he didn't see her cry.

Grace didn't know why this was hitting her so hard. Yes, she had been facing death minutes ago, but the Charming family now had a plan to save them all, and she trusted them to do it right. This was Storybrooke; things had happened here that had affected her just because she  _was_ here, and as Henry's best friend, she knew more about a lot of those things than most. By now she'd learned to be brave and wait it out. Time would tell, all would go well, and they would live to fight another day. Nothing new there. But this felt  _different_ somehow… and it took her a minute to figure out why. When Henry had left, she'd turned to her father and buried her face in his jacket, letting her tears flow as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She was still in his embrace when it – the difference she felt this time – hit her.

As always, she knew that  _she_ would be safe… but this time she just didn't feel the same certainty when it came to Henry.


	14. Chapter 14

Sitting silently in a booth at Granny's diner, Grace leaned her forehead against the cool window pane to her right and tried her hardest not to  _think about him._

 _Three days._  It had been three days since Henry had walked out the door with his family… and the next person to come in had informed those waiting there for information that Henry had been  _kidnapped_ , and that his family was going to  _Neverland_ to get him back.

She had been right; this hadn't turned out how she'd wanted it to – how any of them had wanted it to – and now she didn't know if she would ever see him again. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to refocus her thoughts – there was homework on the table in front of her for a reason – but the memory of his face filled the space behind her eyelids as the words that she  _wished_  she'd said to him filled her ears, haunting and torturing her.

Thirteen-year-olds shouldn't feel like this, but he'd become the other half of her while she wasn't looking, and she hadn't seen it until he was already gone. Her chest heaved, and a solitary tear eased its way down her cheek.

"Grace?" A gentle tone and equally soft hand on her shoulder made her eyes snap open and her spine straighten as she turned to see Ruby studying her with worried eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Hi, Ruby," Grace offered a fragile smile as she sniffed.

Undeterred, Ruby slid into the seat beside Grace and said, "Talk to me, kiddo; what's going on in that head of yours?"

Still hoping to avoid that conversation – because good grief, thirteen-year-olds were just as likely to have found their true loves as eleven-year-olds were, and she remembered full-well thinking how stupid of an idea  _that_ was – Grace tapped the homework in front of her.

"Uh-uh, not buying it;" Ruby said, sliding the papers away from her. "I remember math being frustrating, but it wouldn't drive you to tears… or the hopelessness that's written all over that pretty face of yours." Her tone softened again as she murmured, "You miss him, don't you?"

Grace gave up on avoidance and leaned her head over on Red's shoulder, nodding.

"I do too, you know," Red pointed out.

Grace mumbled under her breath, hoping not to be heard, "Not the same way."

"No," Red agreed thoughtfully. "Probably not. But I think there's someone here who's going through the exact same thing that you are," Grace stilled and her gaze drifted slowly to Belle, sitting at the counter and picking listlessly at a burger with her back to them. Ruby continued, "And here's what I've noticed about her – she does better, it seems easier on her, when she stays busy… but she's a little  _too_ busy right now, so I took the liberty of discussing something with her. I suggested that you take over the work she's been doing at the library until she can get back to it herself. It's just been book-organizing, since the library isn't open yet; you're good at organization and you know the Dewey decimal system, so I thought it would be a win-win."

"I don't want to do anything."

"You're not hearing me then," Ruby replied. "I didn't say anything about 'wanting' to do it – do you really think she wants to be playing co-mayor with Archie right now? – I said I think you need to." Seeing that she was about to object again, Red tried a different angle. "Do you remember that one time when you talked with Neal about your father and his? Did that help you?" Grace nodded grudgingly against her shoulder. "This would be the same thing – you being around someone who knows what you're going through… who could even go through it with you."

"I'm only thirteen; nobody's going to see her and I as going through the same thing."

"Then I guess that makes Archie and I nobody. Just… try to talk to her, please? Just once, for your old friend Red?"

Grace sighed in resignation and pushed on Ruby gently, indicating that she should get out of the booth so she could do the same, and then she obediently went over and sat down at the counter beside the town's stand-in mayor, starting, "So, you're Belle, right?"

She must've started Belle out of her reverie like Red had Grace, because Rumplestiltskin's girlfriend jumped before she turned to Grace, registered who she was, and said, "And according to Ruby, you're Grace."

Grace let the words out with another sigh as she said, "And she thinks we need to be friends."

"She's usually right in these things," Belle conceded, "And I  _could_ use help in the library. Are you willing to give it a try?"

"I don't think I have a choice in things at this point."

Grace got the feeling that Belle's trembling smile was exactly the sort of one that she'd just tried giving Ruby as the librarian commented quietly, "Seems that's the way with a lot of things recently, hm?"

"Yeah," Grace replied, admitting at least in her own mind that just maybe Ruby  _was_ right; if nothing else, at least she'd found someone to be miserable with.

* * *

But by the time the group returned  _with Henry_ , Grace felt that she'd actually gained another friend. Seeing how much the woman was hurting – a worried pain that did indeed mirror her own – she'd tried to help in more ways than just shelving books at the library. She'd reached out to Belle and genuinely gotten to know her.

On this day in particular, Belle had called her and said that something unexpected had come up, and not to be surprised if she didn't hear from her for a day or two. But when Belle did call her, she only gave her cryptic instructions before she hung up again: "Forget the library for the day and come down to Granny's."

Mind whirling with ideas of what could be going on – could Henry be back?! – she did as told, comforted only by the fact that Belle had sounded thrilled when she'd called, though she'd obviously tried to hide it. Belle was happy again, and wanted her at Granny's – probably where everyone would go to celebrate when they returned. As the pieces fit into place in her hopeful heart and one-track mind, Grace began to run.


	15. Chapter 15

"Henry!" Grace let his name out with a strangled gasp as she walked in the door and saw him sitting there, staring at the hubbub of the diner like it was the first time he'd seen it.

Had he really missed this place, the life he had here, that much?

The idea of approaching him suddenly made her nervous, and she froze just a couple of steps inside the door.

"Go!" a voice hissed near her ear.

She nearly jumped out of her skin before identifying the cheerful voice as Ruby's. Did the woman see  _everything_ that happened in this place?! The waitress put her hands on Grace's shoulders and gave her a gentle shove towards Henry, and she went.

"Hey!" she said, practically trembling with nervous excitement as she stood awkwardly beside the table instead of just plopping down onto the seat beside him and hugging him.

He parroted the phrase back to her, using the same tone and everything, and something told her he didn't quite know what to do with her; it was as if he knew that he knew her, but just didn't know how to place her. What had happened to him in Neverland?! It wasn't like they'd truly been gone forever, regardless of what it may have felt like!

So she took initiative of her own and slid into the seat beside him, employing the same gentleness she used when her father got testy, and put a hand on his arm, offering softly, "I missed you."

"I missed you too," he answered, his smile suddenly turning downright tender, and it was like he had made a decision or flipped a switch or something, because he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

She moved to put her head on his shoulder, expecting a simple hug, but then his hand was on her cheek and before she knew what was happening, he had kissed her.  _Kissed her_! Like it was absolutely nothing! Like they did it all the time! What the heck?!

And then her mind began to catch up and she started to process what it could mean. It wasn't that she didn't want him to kiss her – she'd decided while he was in Neverland that was exactly what she wanted – but she  _really_ hadn't expected him to be the one to take the initiative. Did that mean that he'd come to the same decision that she had while they'd been separated? Could it really be that simple?

"What-?" she struggled to force the words she needed out of her mouth. "What was that?"

"A kiss. I thought…" The smallest flash of panic hit his eyes before he shifted his arm so that instead of her hand resting on his forearm, it was encased in his own hand. He looked at her with… something like vulnerability in his eyes as he asked, "Is it okay? I, um, I  _really_ missed you. I thought we could, we could be… you know. If that's okay?"

Grace didn't think her smile could get any wider as what was happening sunk in. Henry Mills had just given her first kiss  _and_ asked her to be his girlfriend – as best as he could, anyway – in the same three minutes. "That's more than okay," she replied, squeezing his hand and totally blocking out that niggling  _something_ that had slid into the back of her mind. "That's perfect."

Her phone suddenly trilled in her pocket, and she pulled it out, seeing four separate texts had just been sent to her – one from her father (a coincidence) and three nosy ones from Belle, Red, and even Archie (definitely not a coincidence). She sighed impatiently, answered her father's message, and ignored the other three. She could feel the senders' eyes on her anyway, amused and smiling like she and Henry were suddenly the cutest thing since the first cat video. She scooted closer to Henry. Determined that they wouldn't bother her.

"I'm thirsty;" he said out of the blue. "Would you mind getting me a drink?"

"Oh… sure."

Though surprised by the request, Grace jumped up and went to the counter, making sure to catch the attention of a waitress she knew  _wouldn't_ bug her about what had just happened, if she'd even noticed it. But when Grace turned back around to return to the booth, Henry was walking out the door with Mayor Mills. Strange.

"Are you doing better now?" Ruby questioned, coming up to the opposite side of the counter with a smile on her face.

Staring at the now-empty booth where Henry had just been and feeling… unsettled, Grace replied thoughtfully, "I'm honestly not sure."

* * *

She tried to call him a couple of times the next day, but he never picked up – and she started to panic. He never ignored her calls! Was it because of what they'd said last night; the kiss? Did he regret it? Or was the change solely because of what he'd gone through in Neverland? If it was Neverland that was bothering him, wouldn't he  _want_ to talk to her, as had happened when he'd had other difficulties? So it must be the kiss!

She called Belle next, hoping for a word of advice at least, but got sent to voicemail; of course the librarian would be busy with Rumplestiltskin to the point of unreachable. She flipped her phone closed and glared at it, gnawing on her lip as she considered her options.

She couldn't see Belle being at the library today. Pawn shop? Almost definitely, but Mr. Gold would be there too, and she wasn't entirely used to dealing with him. She could find Ruby at the diner, and Dr. Hopper would be either there or at his office. Maybe, the thought hit her suddenly, she could even hunt down Baelfire…? It looked like he was trying to get back together with Sheriff Swan, right?

Could she draw a parallel to that like Ruby had drawn between her and Belle?

Or… should she go with the hardest of her options: let Henry would out whatever he was thinking and come to her when  _he_ was ready?

Making up her mind, she sighed, sat down at her desk, and tried to study, reminding herself that the hardest thing was often also the best thing.


	16. Chapter 16

"Grace!" her head snapped up from her book and towards her father where he stood in her bedroom doorway, pale and trembling two days later.

"Papa?" she gasped with concern as he shuffled forward, sat down beside her on the bed, and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Papa, what's wrong?"

"I love you, Grace. No matter what happens, no matter where we end up,  _I love you._ Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Papa, I love you too," she hurried to reassure him before asking again, "What's wrong? What's going on?" But before he could even answer, a thick, purple smoke came roiling into view. Grace knew magic when she saw it, and she barely refrained from screaming when it started to seep in through the windowsill. No, she didn't understand what was going on, and it didn't appear that Papa had time to explain either! Screwing her eyes closed, she buried her face in her papa's shirt and repeated, "I love you, Papa," as she waited for whatever was going on to be over.

Within the space of a minute, she could feel everything around her change. Though she kept her face hidden, she felt the temperature become cooler, and heard the rustle of leaves as a gentle plume of wind blew through them. Strangest of all was the sudden weight on her shoulders that she remembered from the oldest of her memories; she was wearing a cloak. Outside. Somehow she'd ended up outside, and that fact alone made her wary of opening her eyes and investigating just what had changed – how much damage had been done.

At least her father's arms were still around he r, she mused before his comforting voice filled her ears, saying, "It's alright, Grace; you're safe. I'm still here; you can look up now."

She obeyed reluctantly, taking it all in. Yes, they were outside, and in a mismatched group of other Storybrooke residents at that. They were in a forest… and she was wearing clothing suitable for the Enchanted Forest. Everyone was, for that matter. They were  _back in the Enchanted Forest!_

Confusion bubbled in her stomach, fear making her throat feel hot as she managed to ask only, "Papa?"

"I'm not sure; all I know is that Mary Margaret sent out a mass text message that said that Regina had to reverse the curse."

"What?! Why?"

"I don't know."

"I think I can answer that."

At the familiar voice, Grace whipped around, quickly turning in a full circle as she tried to locate the man it went with.

"Whoa!" the voice complained again, and though she couldn't see him, he sounded awfully close to her. That however was explained when he informed her. "Here on your shoulder."

Her mouth dropped open as she located the bug that was indeed sitting on her shoulder. Archie's voice… from a bug! No, not just a bug – of course – a cricket, Jiminy Cricket! At the sight of him there, she couldn't help the shocked laugh that burst forth from her mouth, though she wondered if it might not be the first sign of a sudden bout of madness. And that's when she began to pick out the faces that made up their little group.

Tinkerbell.

Ashley, Sean, and Alexandria.

Marco and Pinocchio.

Ariel and Eric.

Frederick and Kathryn Holt.

Sister Astrid – and were those  _wings_ on her back?!

All of them clustered around as Jiminy hopped from Grace's shoulder to Marco's, eager for answers as the cricket began to explain what had happened. "I managed to make it to the town line and hear what was going on before this curse hit. Apparently, when they docked in Storybrooke after Neverland, Pan switched bodies with Henry."

Grace was suddenly glad Archie had left her shoulder – leaving her away from anyone's notice – as she actually  _felt_ the color drain from her face. Only her father's arms inconspicuously holding her up kept her from crumbling then and there as Jiminy continued his awful, nearly debilitating tale.

Henry was gone! She had just gotten him back, he had  _kissed her_ , and now he was gone again, mere days later! But… no. If what Jiminy was saying was right – and she unfortunately had no logical reason to believe that it wasn't – she'd never gotten Henry back in the first place; he'd been in Pandora's box of all places! But that meant… she'd been given her first kiss by  _Peter Pan!_ Having learned from Belle how awful he truly was, Grace felt her gag reflex kick in at this realization, but she refused to allow herself that. She hadn't even told her father what she  _thought_ had happened yet; there was no way that she was going to tell him what had  _actually_ happened, unknowing in it though she may have been.

Yet now that she knew the truth – knew that she hadn't seen him since that afternoon in the diner nearly two weeks ago – the way that she had missed him came back with viciously renewed force. And now it looked like she wasn't even going to get him back – quite possibly  _ever_. The very idea caused a sob to claw its way out of her throat, and she moved quickly to hide her face in her papa's coat again lest the sound of it disturb what was left of Jiminy's story.

But next to her father, the cricket was the least likely to be fooled, and once the small group had begun to move – going in a direction they hoped would hold others from Storybrooke – she found that he had jumped onto her shoulder again. Papa's hand was on her other shoulder even now as they walked, but all she wanted was to get away from them both – from all of them – and scream at being left without her best friend again.

By day's end though, Papa did his best to remind her that they were among the "lucky ones." "Lucky" because by the time night fell, they'd stumbled upon the group that had been at the town line with Archie. The Charmings, Regina, Red and Granny, the dwarves… Baelfire and Belle. Seeing her friends, Grace dove into Belle's arms – an instinct after what they'd originally bonded over – and she was pretty sure the woman returned the sudden hug just as desperately. After a few days of not seeing each other because of Rumplestiltskin, they were together again… together again, lonely again, and grieving more than ever.


	17. Chapter 17

While her father was doing okay, Grace was able to hold it together well enough. But then they encountered the problem that was the Wicked Witch. Though most couldn't tell, she noticed when he practically fell apart at Zelena's appearance, and she couldn't figure out why it bothered him so much! There was a witch on the loose who was apparently hell-bent on destroying the Evil Queen and those who got too close to her; it wasn't a problem to understand  _worry_ , but he seemed genuinely  _broken_ by what was going on, and Grace just didn't get why, and she didn't know how to help him. Not when she could barely hold herself together.

So when they got to the Charmings' castle, for as long as Belle, Baelfire, and Ruby were there, she stayed around them. Once again she felt like Belle could, in a way, understand her pain, and, like Grace, Baelfire missed  _Henry_  just for the simple fact that he was Henry, and to both Baelfire and Grace that constituted a million things. Though it was never really discussed, even Ruby had lost her boyfriend in a way, even if he was still around, because, well… he was a cricket now.

One morning, though, the castle woke up to find Belle and Baelfire gone, and Red wasn't far behind; when the people of her original village went off to rebuild, Granny and Red went with them. That was when her papa seemed to get it together just enough to realize that, unfortunately for her, it was time to do what everyone else was doing – a good number of them with similar reluctance. It was time to resign themselves to the fact that this was their lives again, that time was still continuing on, and Grace and Jefferson both had no chance but to move on with it.

So they ended up back in a tiny hut in an unnamed village, doing their best to keep going. They helped with the village's rebuilding, went back to mushroom hunting for a living, and – at least in Grace's case – pretended that they didn't spend every other waking minute remembering what they had left behind.

* * *

Until they woke up a year after they'd left Storybrooke to find that they had it all back. What they didn't have, though, was an explanation – or their memories of the past year. Father and daughter were quick to head to the one place they could always count on finding answers – Granny's diner – but it didn't take long for them to come to the conclusion that  _no one_ knew anything. Until a couple of days later, that was.

They'd returned to the diner daily to ask Ruby if there was any news, so once it happened, it didn't take long for father and daughter to be informed that Emma and Henry were back in town – though the latter had no memory of the town. Because nothing –  _nothing_ – could ever come easily in this town, Grace thought with a sinking heart as she saw the pitying look Ruby was giving her.

Looking between the two of them, Jefferson awkwardly stepped away, assuming that Grace would want to talk to the part-time werewolf. Any other time, maybe she would've, but right now it was too much, and the way that Ruby was looking at her just made her irrationally mad.

"Did I look at you like that when your boyfriend was a bug?" she snapped. "No? So don't do it to me now! I'll be okay – we all will be!"

With that, she spun on her heel and stalked out of the diner, knowing that her father was already waiting for her just outside. When she hit the sidewalk, she found herself beginning to run. She ignored Papa calling to her, despising the sight of the car coming nearer as he drove alongside her and tried to tell her to get into the vehicle. She needed to be free for a little while – to  _think_ after the revelation at Granny's – and after a minute, her father seemed to recognize that, pulling the car back so that it was trundling slowly along the road behind her as she went. A lot like Jefferson herself, she thought, there for her, but not pushing its presence on her when she needed something else.

He had come to understand that sometimes someone else was better for her at given moments, had perhaps even gone through what she was going through, and in those very rare times that she needed to be  _alone_ – those moments that came purely from her, Grace, and went against everything that Paige was – he got that too. And he let her think it through.

Though she had absolutely been wrong in  _how_ she'd said it, she ultimately believed what she'd told Ruby – that somehow she, and Henry, would pull through this… whatever this was. Maybe if she could just talk to him… remind him of who he  _really_ was… of what they'd had before Neverland?

Yet, she was leery of letting herself go there, because even after over a year, she still wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with that kiss. Yes, it had actually been Pan kissing her and saying those sweet things, but something that she'd done – that Henry had done in Neverland, maybe? – had made him think that was something that Henry would do.

She'd gone over that conversation a million times in her head, and come to a few conclusions. For whatever reason, Pan had thought she and Henry were together from the moment she had sat down beside him. The kiss had come because he'd thought it was what she expected, and when she'd shown her surprise, he'd said what he had – practically as close to a declaration of love as a couple of thirteen year olds could get – to cover his tracks. She'd fallen for it easily because of her own vulnerable emotions and tangled thoughts, but now her musings were even more tangled than ever because of it.


	18. Chapter 18

One thing still held true though. No matter what, she still wanted to see Henry, to at least  _try_ to do whatever it took for him to get his memories back; if that was even something she could help with.

Ultimately, she wasn't able to do anything of the sort, because the second her father heard that Zelena was the one who had brought them back and was causing the problems arising in town, he went a little, well… mad, and kept her barred in the house until they received word that Zelena had been captured.

It drove her positively up the wall to be so unable to help, but at least Red was keeping her updated in the mean time. When Rumplestiltskin was revealed to be alive – and Neal dead – she heard about it from Ruby. When there was an epic battle on Main Street between Regina and the combined powers that were Zelena and the unwilling Rumplestiltskin, that news came from Red too. The only thing that Grace found out on her own was when Henry got his memories back and that only because that's when hers were returned as well.

When Ruby called later that day, Grace stood by her father as he took the call and was thrilled catch the phrase "Zelena's harmless now." Though she was paying more attention to what she could hear of Ruby's side of the conversation then she was to her father, Grace noticed the plethora of emotions play across his face while Ruby spoke before he eventually said, "Thanks for calling. I'll let Grace know; she'll be thrilled. Give them my congratulations."

She bounced on her toes, hoping this meant what she thought it did, as he hung up the phone and turned to her. "You heard that, I take it?" he asked.

She nodded. "Mostly, and what I didn't, I can get from Henry, now that Zelena's out of the way, right?" she asked hopefully.

A small, rueful smile pulled at the edges of Papa's mouth as he answered, "Yeah; you're free to go. Mary Margaret had the baby today; everyone – including Henry – is still at the hospital."

"And I can go see him now?" she double-checked, nearly hyperventilating with excitement at the idea.

Jefferson nodded, managing to stall her long enough to give her a kiss on the forehead before she ran out the door at full speed. After well over a year of being away from her best friend, she was more than ready to see him again – so ready that she didn't notice her father starting to shatter as she shut the door behind her.

Usually the steady movements of running and the wind in her face cleared her head, but at the moment, there was just too much going on in her head – so much he didn't know, and she didn't know – that by the time she reached the hospital, she was a gasping, nervous wreck.

She didn't stop running until she slid to a stop in the waiting room, nearly running into one of the dwarves – Sleepy? – as she slowed.

Archie grinned unabashedly at her, commenting, "I thought you'd show up."

"I wonder why?" Ruby drawled.

Ignoring them, Grace gasped out the only thing that mattered: "Where's he?"

"Still in the room with Mary Margaret and the others," Grumpy supplied.

"He'll be out in a minute, I'm sure," Archie soothed, guiding her into a chair and handing her a small paper cup filled with water. "Here, drink. It won't do you any good to be here if you're so out of breath you can't talk."

She nodded, greedily gulping down the water that she'd been given. Her breathing had evened out – though she was beginning to think that her thoughts were never going to – and she was in the middle of a conversation with Ruby, halfway through her second cup of water when… Henry.

He was all but hidden behind Hook, Emma, and Dr. Whale as they all came into the room, but she still saw him –  _all_  she saw was him – and when their eyes met her brain screeched to a merciless halt, completely blanking as she breathed only, "Henry!"

* * *

"Henry!"

When Grace repeated his name, at normal speaking volume this time, Henry found his legs moving of their own volition towards her, and he had never been so thrilled over human contact as he was for the crushing, still-familiar hug that she gave him where they met in the middle of the room. He buried his face in her shoulder, surprised to notice how differently they fit together since the last time they'd been together. How long ago that seemed – how long ago it actually  _had been_!

The very thought made him want to try doing more than hugging her, but he was terrified by the idea that kissing her would lead to the ruination of what they had already had for so long. He'd missed her as much as he had anyone in his family while he was on his own, and the more he'd thought about her – while there and even during his "alone time" in Pandora's box – the more he'd come to the conclusion that what he felt for her was something more than friendship. He was just too afraid of the unknown to act on his conclusions – yet.

Even so, just like her embrace still felt like a safety net, just as they instantly found a new way to fit together again, they fell instantly back into their old ease with one another. Returning to Granny's with Red, they sat at the counter like they had a thousand times before and talked. They talked about what had happened to Henry while he was in Neverland, and to Grace during that same timeframe.

He felt a jolt of surprise when she informed him that Belle had brought her on at the library, and that the job was still waiting for her now that Jefferson had let her out of her house.

"You know," he said slowly. "According to my mom, Grandpa offered Pan-as-me an apprenticeship sort of job at the pawnshop on the way back here from Neverland. I was planning on asking him if that offer still stands."

"That would be cool," Grace replied approvingly.

"Yeah… but if I work at the pawnshop… and you work at the library-"


	19. Chapter 19

Grace blinked, seeing where he was going with this as she said, "Ruby and the rest of the town are going to start drawing parallels and conclusions."

"Right," Henry nodded.

"We both know how to deal with gossip though, and that sort of thing that would come up would be more harmless than the rest of what we've dealt with. I think you should still look into it."

He smiled at the idea and agreed, "Alright, I will." However, as he studied her expression, he saw something else in her face and asked, "What is it?"

"Nothing."

The answer was too quick, too sharp, and too sudden. Too obvious a lie. "Talk to me, Grace," he prompted. "We told each other everything last year; let's not change that now."

"I can't yet, Henry," she answered carefully. "I will one day, but I just can't yet. I need you to trust me instead – please."

"Okay," he replied, not pleased, but not exactly unpleased, either.

He could deal with her asking him to be patient, to wait for a "one day." He trusted her enough to know that she would keep her word, and when she was ready, she would talk to him.

Her expression creased with something like worried concern as she asked him carefully, "So, ah, how bad was it being inside Pandora's box?"

He shrugged, answering lightly, "The space itself wasn't horrible – kind of like I imagine the inside of a really plain genie bottle would be – the worst part was really just not knowing if I was ever going to get back out. The quiet time to think and take a breather from everything was actually kind of nice; it gave me lots of time to think."

"Good," she said with a pleased smile, bouncing easily from one topic to the next as she inquired, "What was New York like?"

At that, he dove into his memories of the city, all the while feeling entirely grateful to be back in this town – particularly with this girl.

So he was not overly happy to later learn that his mom was still planning on the two of them going back to New York. Though he was grateful, and thoroughly confused, when she came back into Neal's coronation party – after what had only seemed to be a short talk outside with Captain Hook – and recanted of the entire idea. Storybrooke was their home, and they were there to stay.

That wasn't to say that the reason she gave behind the change in heart – and the changes she showed them in the book – didn't surprise and shock him. He was just glad to hear that they were staying… and that a lull seemed to come in the crazy that normally swept endlessly over the town.

But, just like when he'd been in Pandora's box, people started thinking  _too much_ when given the chance, and that's when they started breaking down – Rumplestiltskin, Emma, and – oddly enough – Jefferson, in particular. And Regina, considering that Marian had shown up as well when Emma and Hook had reappeared, quickly falling back into married life with her husband, the first man in a long time to make the mayor happy.

There was no crazy villain in town, just rampant emotions from the people to whom Henry and Grace were closest, and they honestly didn't know how to fix it.

Henry didn't enquire about the job yet – his way of giving his grandfather, and even, ultimately, Emma, their room to grieve. And Jefferson's house wasn't the best place to be for awhile either. In the end, they both tried to help their parents through their grief – it appeared that Jefferson had apparently lost someone too, according to Grace, though she had no idea who – and, failing that, they ended up either at Granny's or the library after school, once again leaning on each other when things got tough.

Slowly, the adults in their life started getting a grip though, and for awhile Henry fooled himself into thinking they might be able to live a life that resembled normal.

Of course life had to throw a curveball not long thereafter… but he'd never expected it to be the happy surprise that it was!

* * *

They were  _alive_!  _Baelfire – his father –_ was  _alive_ … and his parents still wanted him to go to school the morning after Baelfire – and Milah, Arabella, and Daniel, for that matter – had returned. Not fair! But when he saw Grace waiting for him on the steps of the school he was kind of grateful to them for making him come. There was no way that she would've let him off the hook for not telling her about this if he'd waited until he simply remembered that she would be interested in it.

Now that he had remembered, though, he was more than eager to tell her!

He raced up the steps and skidded to a stop in front of her, declaring, "You will  _never_ believe what happened yesterday!"

"Then I guess you'd better go ahead and tell me; whatever it is, it must be pretty big."

"You know how my mom and Mr. Gold have gotten all father-daughter, and he's been giving Mom magic lessons?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, apparently, they came up with this plan and, long story short; they went to the Enchanted Forest and killed a few ogres via spell to bring some people back to life!"

" _Back to life_?" Grace repeated, eyes blowing wide.

"Uh-huh – and guess who they retrieved?"

"Baelfire!" she cried instantly.

Henry burst out laughing – he'd figured she'd be nearly as happy about that as he was – and informed her, "Three more people too."

Her pretty eyes did the impossible and got wider, mouth dropping open as she asked, "Who?"

"Um, Belle's daughter, Arabella-"

"I didn't even know she had a daughter!"

"Me neither, but, hey, there's been a lot to take in anyway. None of this has really started sinking in until this morning."

"Who else?" she pressed eagerly.

"Captain Hook's true love, who – I don't know if you know this or not, in working at the library – is also Mr. Gold's first wife, Dad's mom."

"That's going to be fun…" she drawled sarcastically.

"I actually think they might be okay. Gran made sure to extract ceasefire promises from everybody before the afternoon was even over."

"Well, that's good. That leaves one more person though."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, I told you we'd eventually get to post-"Common Ground!" Hopefully you're enjoying this so far! Comments would make my day!


	20. Chapter 20

Henry took a deep breath, saying, "That would be my mom's – Regina's, I mean – first love, Daniel."

"Oh, I bet she's over the moon now!"

"Yeah, about him, there's something there that just kicked in this morning…" The bell's untimely screech cut him off, and he finished lamely, "But that will have to wait until after school."

"I'll only have a few minutes before Belle expects me at the library if we go to Granny's," Grace said apologetically.

Henry paused before admitting softly, "I need advice... or ice cream."

"Then I'll make the time; Belle will be fine with it," she replied, tune instantly changing… for his sake.

Maybe he could do a little something in return. "You know," he said thoughtfully. "Mom took us to a different place yesterday, and it's a little closer to the library. Do you want to try there instead?"

She shrugged gamely, answering, "Sure."

"Alright, meet me right here when you're ready to go then."

* * *

"Hi, Grandma – and Grandma!" Henry called out gaily, holding the door to the coffee shop open for Grace. Kathryn and Milah were both standing behind the counter smiling at him as he slid up onto a barstool and informed Milah, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Milah shrugged. "I like it here; it's quiet, but it seems like a good place to start learning about this world." Henry nodded and she asked, "So, what can I get you two?"

"After what you did yesterday, I trust you."

Milah leaned on the counter and propped her chin in her hand, studying him for a beat before she declared, "Something's going on that's got you unsettled; you need old faithful. Hot chocolate it is." As Kathryn got to work on Henry's drink, Milah asked Grace, "And who might you be?"

"Grace Samuels. Are you… Milah?"

"I am," Milah answered, looking a little surprised that she knew her name.

Grace explained with a smile and a shrug, "Henry and I talk a lot, and he was excited when you and the other three showed up."

Milah just grinned at that and changed the subject, asking, "You like the taste of key lime?"

Grace nodded and Milah got to work on a smoothie. With the backs of both women turned towards them, Grace got a good look at Henry, seeing that something in his expression had changed when she'd mentioned he was excited. She leaned in close to him and whispered, "You are excited, aren't you?"

"Yeah, of course."

But he wasn't looking at her as he spoke, instead rooting around in his backpack for his sketchpad. His lack of eye contact meant that there was a good chance that he was trying to lie – not that she bought it. Was this what he needed advice on?

"Talk to me, Henry," she requested under her breath, both of them still very aware of the proximity of his grandmothers.

Maybe this coffee shop hadn't been the best idea after all…

He slanted his eyes pointedly towards the women and said to Kathryn – Mrs. Holt, now – "Can we get them to go, please? Grace has to go to work soon."

"Sure," Kathryn answered.

"'Work'?" Milah repeated curiously. "Do you hold a job? I thought children's job was school?"

"I sort of do both. I go to school," Grace explained, watching Rumplestiltskin's ex-wife closely as she said next, "And afterwards, I go to the library and work with Belle every other day."

Milah just nodded passively as she set the drinks before the teenagers. "Well, it was nice to meet you Grace; we wouldn't want you to be late, though."

Part of Grace wanted to stay and see what else she could at least observe of this woman, but a much bigger part of her wanted to get Henry alone to talk and then go see Belle, especially after what had apparently happened the day before.

"Thanks!" Henry said brightly as the duo paid, grabbed their drinks, and headed out the door. "I may actually come back later; there are some things I want your opinions on."

"We'll be here," Kathryn replied and then Grace and Henry were on the sidewalk outside.

"Now are you going to tell me what's up?" Grace asked him, sliding her cold paper cup from one hand to the other.

"Now I'm gonna be a jerk and ask if we could go sit at Granny's; I, uh, kinda want to have this conversation somewhere where I don't have to worry about eavesdroppers."

"Fair enough," Grace said as they began to walk. "Can I at least have a hint?"

"Daniel."

"You're mom's…"

"He was her fiancé by lunch time today. She texted Gram and asked her to tell me."

"Is that a good thing?" she asked carefully.

"I'm pretty sure my mom knows that I've got a reason to be leery of Daniel – think that's why she just asked Gram to tell me about the engagement – but I'm also pretty sure that Daniel has no idea that I have that reason."

"What reason is that?"

Apparently this conversation wasn't going to be held off, but still Henry sighed, nibbled on his lip, and took a drink of his cocoa before he answered, "You remember that guy who tried to strangle me at the stables way back when?"

The pieces clicked into place then as Grace realized. "You said your mom eventually told you he was an old boyfriend that Cora had killed and Whale had messed up. Daniel's that guy?"

He nodded.

"Oh, Henry…"

"He really wasn't himself that day, and I knew that even then, but I'm still sure that I want to be around him."

"Does he seem like a bad guy  _now_?"

"No! Oh, no… I'm just… he probably doesn't even know what he did, and I really do think I would be safe with him now – everybody else seems to think so, and Gramps was even there too, when the thing in the stables happened – but… I don't know."

"It's unnerving," Grace supplied. Henry nodded again, and Grace suggested thoughtfully, "Wasn't Red at the diner last night when they came back? Maybe we should ask her for her first impression of him?"

Henry looked at her like she was a genius, and they sped up to a run.


	21. Chapter 21

Red came up when they sat down at the counter, saying, "Hey, my favorite customers are gracing me with their presence once again!"

"Presence and a question," Grace corrected, getting straight to the point.

Red crossed her arms over the counter and got comfortable, prompting, "Alright?"

"What do you think of Daniel?"

"Regina's Daniel?" Grace nodded, and Ruby continued casually, "I thought he seemed like a really sweet guy and nice. Why?"

Grace turned to Henry who shrugged uncomfortably, hedging only, "Stuff happened awhile back that he doesn't really know about that I don't like."

"That," Ruby pointed out. "Describes half of what Regina's done since creating this town. But it's  _Daniel_  that you're worried about?" Henry nodded and Red pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, saying, "You know, I was right by their table last night, but they weren't paying me any attention, and I managed to record their reunion thing. You wanna see? Because they really did look genuinely over the moon to see one another," she got a look in her eye as she added, as if she'd just thought of it, "Kind of like you and Grace seeing one another again once Zelena was gone."

So saying, she handed over the phone, and Grace and Henry bent their heads together to watch the video together.

Daniel was the first to reveal himself on the video, and, oh, the look on Regina's face when he did! Henry knew instantly just how much she loved him – how happy she was to see him – because the only other person she'd looked at like that was him. And the brilliant smile on Daniel's face spoke volumes too. He felt the uncertainty coiled in his gut loosen exponentially.

As they kept watching, Milah nearly collapsed at Hook's feet – and then he recognized who she was.

That was when Henry came to his own realization. Ruby was right. The look on Hook's face was extremely similar to the one Grace had worn when she'd seen him again after Zelena.

He glanced at Grace out of the corner of his eye, and saw that she was looking back at him with the same thoughts swirling in her eyes. But that wasn't right, was it? These people were true loves!

Sure, he and Grace were one another's best friend, and he liked her – maybe he did even love her – but – he turned fully towards her, seeing his train on thought still mirrored in her wide-eyed gaze – they weren't true loves!

Were they?

His heart hammered in his chest the very idea. He had just exchanged one uncertainty for another – but he had an idea of how he might be able to get an answer to this question. If Grace would be willing to go along with it…

When the video was finished, he shoved the phone back into Ruby's hand, grabbed Grace's wrist, and the two of them headed out the door while he called out absently, "Thanks, Ruby!"

* * *

Henry was thinking the same things she was, Grace could tell – about true loves and the two of them. Yet, she had no idea what he was thinking of  _doing_ about it. There was obviously something on his mind though, as he all but dragged her into the Charmings' apartment.

"What are you doing?" she asked a little raggedly as she tumbled up a set of stairs at his heels.

This was the first time she'd ever been inside either one of his homes, and she couldn't even take the time to be curious. He was slamming around in drawers and grabbing something, and she was pretty sure she hadn't even heard her question by the time he dropped down on the bed in what was apparently his room.

"A necklace?" she asked, noting what he now held as she sat down beside him. "What's it for?"

He stared down at the strange piece of jewelry as he shrugged off his jacket and muttered, "My sleeping curse."

"I don't understand." But she wanted to, because this was obviously a huge deal to him.

"I need you to do something stupid. I'm going to put this on and go to sleep. I need you to take the necklace off of me once I'm asleep…" he took a deep breath, blushing as he muttered, "Then kiss me. If I don't wake up, just put the necklace back on me."

Grace froze, even in her confusion hearing what he  _didn't_ say loud and clear. He was going to put himself back under his sleeping curse because he wanted to see if she could break it – which would require their being true loves – and by extension,  _that's_ what he wanted to figure out.

But what if something went wrong? What if she couldn't wake him up? More importantly, what if she  _could_?

Her voice came out breathy with a million different emotions as she asked, "Are you sure?"

"Grace, there's no chance that I won't wake up. Failing plan A, putting the necklace back on me means that I can wake myself up from the place having the necklace allowed me to go to in the first place. Please, I really have thought about this a lot, and I just want to do it before I lose my nerve. Nothing has to change between us, and I don't want to ruin anything – everything – between us," he glanced at her hesitantly, murmuring, "But I really do want to know."

Grace nodded in agreement, thinking and watching as he kicked off his shoes, laid down, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He was clearly more nervous then she was, considering that he was the one going under… and she had already kissed… well, at least the lips that went with the body.

Not that he knew that.

Or that either one of them knew what to expect from this little experiment.

Maybe that was why he was having such a hard time going to sleep.

"Breathe, Henry," she reminded him, running her fingertips soothingly along the length of his arm as she promised, "No matter what, I won't leave you."

His breathing evened out a minute later, and when she was sure he wouldn't wake at her touch, she gently slid the necklace over his head. Knowing what came next, she paused, a ticking clock sounding ominously in the silence. Then she saw the crease furrowing in his brow, recalled the burns he'd sustained in the past over this curse, and acted before she thought.

After all, it was just going to be a second kiss that he wouldn't remember and she wouldn't know how to handle, right? At least that's what she told herself.

Until the air stirred around them and she broke the kiss to find him smiling back at her, wide awake.

"Well," he said softly. "I guess that answers that, huh?"

Grace smiled shyly and leaned her head onto his chest so that he couldn't see her blush as she said the first thing that came to mind: "Papa's going to freak out."

"I wonder what my family's going to say?"

"Oh my gosh!" she sprang upright, remembering, "Belle! I am so late, and she'll know something's up! How am I supposed to explain this?!"

"Maybe we don't have to yet," Henry offered, catching her arm as she moved to leave the apartment. "We are young, and I'm not sure even my family would believe us at fourteen."

"Your parents met young, right? And they had true love by the time you came along; you told me that's how your heart's magical."

Henry nodded. "But even they were eighteen"

"Eighteen!" she repeated dismally.

They had true love – sure, they hadn't realized it until Ruby pointed it out, but it was theirs! It was new and exciting and she wanted to tell everyone now, not wait four years!

"Maybe we could tell once we're seventeen?" Henry suggested.

That was still forever away, but maybe she could handle it. "Okay," she agreed.

"Okay," he repeated, and Grace gave him her most bone-crushing hug yet before running out of the apartment and onto the street, heading in the direction of the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One: (disclaimer) I have no idea if the sleeping curse would work this way or not, but here we're going to say that it can.
> 
> Two: That marks the end of this story; comments would still make my day and I'd be thrilled to have you guys back to read more when I begin posting the fourth in the series, "Into Our World," which goes back into the, shall we say bigger picture of what's going on after "Common Ground."


End file.
